Haunted Mansion (2023): A Love Letter to the Fans
Disney has started to love remakes. The audience… not as much. However, despite its underperformance at the box office, fans of both the original and the rides at the parks loved this movie. And if you're like me, you have watched this movie plenty of times. The amount of details is enormous. Let’s talk about why this movie should be recognized more:
The cast is the dream team. LaKeith Stanfield, Danny DeVito, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Jared Leto, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rosario Dawson, and Chase Dillon take the stage in this remake. Each person does excellent work. There was not a dull moment from anyone. They all did so well.
The original Haunted Mansion had a story. This one did as well, but differently. Disney pulled the “Pixar Card,” as I call it. The lesson of this movie is how to cope with grief, and that theme is consistently explored throughout the film. I enjoyed that they stayed consistent with it. It’s not easy to stay consistent with a resounding theme, and they pulled it off to the point where even a younger audience can understand it. For me, at least, this theme didn’t get in the way. It was the mission everyone knew, and they weren't overly distracted by it. So that is a nice touch.
The jump scares are there! I saw this movie for the first time by myself, and it's a perfect movie to watch with family and friends. When I saw it with a couple of friends, it was clear that these scary moments were there. They jumped a few times. And for a Disney film, that’s unusual, but seeing it happen was a lot of fun.
The music is fantastic. Kris Bowers, the composer for Bridgerton, wrote this music, and he set a whole new tone for this film. Taking scary string effects and big drums in some areas, he gave us a fantastic score. Also, since this film takes place in New Orleans, we have a lot of Jazz, which is a nice touch. Grim Grinning Ghost gets three remixes: once at the film's beginning, during the breakfast scene, and then at the end. Also, the Alistair Crump song is a dubstep song. With the help of Steven Davis and Tori Letzler, this villain song takes the central theme of Haunted Mansion to a scary and intense side. Overall, the music has a hint of old school in every track. And Kris wasn’t afraid to put big, epic, and, in my words, “scary strings” effect on the music.
This movie was fun. And a great callback. The number of references to the ride is insane and very cool to look at. And overall, the movie is a blast. Yes, it didn’t do well at the box office. However, it appealed to the fans. Which, in my book, is a win.